> With a Laser, you can come to a halt if the
> adjustment is off. It was here that I learned about weight shifting, finer
> points of adjusting the sail, etc. With a small boat, the sensitivity is
> raised. With this knowledge, I went back to the Potter 15 and bingo, my
> Potter moved in ways that I had never experienced before.
Now I'm more impressed than ever with my own skill [ ;-) ].
I learned the same way -- darn thing won't move, try something else, maybe
something the books suggested -- on a P19. That knowledge has scaled up
well to the cruising boats (say, 25' & above) to which I alluded. Most of
their skippers simply didn't appreciate the difference sail trim can make.
With lots of height, sail area, and mass/momentum they couldn't _feel_ the
differences when learning to sail on their big boats.
Truthfully, I think either Potter, but especially the P15, is small and
light enough to offer this type of feedback if you can find light air in
which to experiment. [Now for a real (!) challenge, let the bottom grow
barnacles for 6 months or so, and it won't matter if the wind is light or
not.]
Regards,
Bill Combs
WWP 19 #439 (Aug 1987)
"Ursa Minor"
Fort Walton Beach FL
ttursine@earthlink.net